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First Byte: Bangkok Chef on Nimitz

Bangkok Chef recently opened for business in the former and entirely gutted ‘n renovated Weyerhauser building on the corner of Alakawa Street and Nimitz Highway in the Iwilei area of Honolulu’s “Big Box District”, which includes Best Buy, Costco, Home Depot, and coming soon, Lowe’s. While here in the same converted Weyerhauser building, Bangkok Chef shares already limited ground floor level parking with neighboring Party City, Tanaka Saimin and La Tour Cafe.

Why did I decide on trying the “Pad Bliao Waan”, you may ask? Well, my theory is whenever dining out is, if it’s something I’ve NEVER heard of before, let alone being able to pronounce it properly, I’m SO on that. Seriously! Really though, I mean, without asking someone who’s Thai how to properly pronounce “Pad Bliao Waan”, I’d just as well say it phonetically like, “Pad Blee-au Won”. Although I’m willing to bet it’s not quite that simple, and there may be some silent consonants and/or either extended or extremely shortened vowels in that name.

Anyhow, how did my “Pad Bliao Waan” taste? Ono! Hey, I can say that!

The thinly-sliced stir-fried chicken was very tender, while the sweet & sour sauce was had a great flavor, although I wouldn’t quite say it tasted particularly “Thai”…

Overall, I’d say this is a dish that could have just as well come out of Panda Express, in a very good way. Which means it wasn’t really “Thai-ish” and could just have well been a Chinese stir-fry, yet absolutely delicious and priced right at less than $7 for a very generous portion. 3 SPAM Musubi.

Now, as for Diner A’s Chicken Fried Rice, while that doesn’t sound exciting at all, believe me, taste-wise, this was by far one of the BEST FRIED RICE I’ve tasted year!

Seriously, this is some smokin’ “mean” fried rice. It just has that “IT” factor about it, which is partially credited to the “flaming wok”, almost char-grilled like flavor imparted in the mildly-nutty fried Jasmine Rice. While whatever the sauce they use to flavor it is neither over nor under powering. SOLID 5 SPAM Musubi for Bangkok Chef’s Chicken Fried Rice, where I’d DEFINITELY recommend, if you dine here, order family style and have THIS as the central “do-it-all” starch for everyone to enjoy with the other entrees.

Service, while very friendly by the wait staff, was the only thing to complain about, as our order came close to half-an-hour to arrive from the kitchen. Yet, being this place had almost literally just opened at the time of our visit, “growing pains” such as this are to be expected, so I wouldn’t factor that in at all. Thankfully, our food that finally did arrive was piping hot and delicious, and that’s really what matters most.

Bangkok Chef
900 N. Nimitz Highway
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

Tel. (808) 536-8570

P.S. While that was our “first byte” of Bangkok Chef’s new location in the former Weyerhauser building on Nimitz and Alakawa in Iwilei, we also enjoyed an entire SPREAD of Thai eats, catered from Bangkok Chef’s Nuuanu street location. This, being back in December of last year for yet another office luncheon party, where on this festive holiday season occasion, we start with Bangkok Chef’s Summer Rolls (regardless of it being technically “winter” at the time lol)…

I take it Bangkok Chef uses Skippy brand “super chunky” Peanut Butter to make their Peanut Sauce. Oh, that’s right, the summer rolls…

Debbie-chan, I usually try to include a song that relates to the food I’m featuring in that post (or at least loosely by its place of origin), along with a song that I personally enjoy listening too. Such as is the case with Adele, that new British songbird, who reminds me of a new and MUCH improved Amy Winehouse (thank GOODNESS!), and certainly on her way to becoming a top international song diva of her own. AMAZING voice. Check out some Adele’s live performances on YouTube such as the Letterman series. “Chicken Skin”!!!

Amy, right up (or down) the street from in the Nimitz Business Center there’s Siam Garden Cafe, which is a mighty darned excellent Thai restaurant, with more Thai themed decor that provides a much more “authentic” experience than the contemporary look of this place. Siam Gardeon’s menu has a Northeastern Beef Salad (Nam Tok), which it says the beef is grilled, not roasted.

Man I took my pregnant girlfriend here the other night and litterally after paying the bill and licking her plate clean I bite down into a hard piece of plastic that was in the yellow chicken curry!!!!!! I told them this is not right and they refunded me for the meal, which was literally ruined by the fact that my pregnant girlfriend could have eaten this hard piece of plastic and caused internal problems. It was a great meal before that. yellow chicken curry, spring rolls, and fried long rice was ok. but the curry was bomb! too bad it was ruined and probably bc its haunted location its in where they used to produce fertilizers cant be too healthy.

oh yes thai food is bomb….but have you sniffed out singaporean/malaysian/indonesian food???? find a place my bruddah!!! that’s my new thing here in berkeley….had it twice this week already! check this webpage out http://www.jayakartarestaurant.bravehost.com/ :)